"Manufacturing Consent" was published in 1988 and became a catchphrase and widely cited text for media cooperation in promoting government policies. The book was adapted into a 1992 documentary of the same name.

Herman and Chomsky also co-wrote "The Political Economy of Human Rights" and "Counter-Revolutionary Violence." A compilation of his work, "The Myth of The Liberal Media: An Edward Herman Reader," came out in 1999.

He was a professor emeritus at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania.